1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic medical tool that is endoscopically inserted into a body cavity and employed for diagnosis and treatment, and a medical system.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-201260, filed Aug. 4, 2008, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
The number of patients with peripheral lung cancer and the like has been trending upward in recent years. Among such patients, there are an increasing number of cases in which endoscopical diagnosis and treatment is carried out. Cases in which stereotactic radiotherapy is carried out in the treatment of such diseases are also on the rise.
In such stereotactic radiotherapy, in the case where the organ demonstrates a large amount of movement accompanying respiration or the like, particularly as in the case of the lungs, a radiopaque marker is disposed so as to fit into a peripheral bronchial tube near the diseased site, in order to identify and clarify the area to be irradiated. Radiation is then performed on the target tissue white carrying out real-time tracking of the irradiated tissue using the marker as a target.
The medical tool disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3960904 may be cited as a conventionally known medical tool for disposing the above-described marker. In this medical tool, an radiographic marker member made of a radiopaque material is inserted into a sheath. At the disposition site, the radiographic marker member is pushed from the proximal end side to the distal end side by means of a guide unit. The distal opening of the sheath is formed to have an inner diameter that narrows distally. This distal opening of the sheath is elastically expanded when the radiographic marker member is pushed therein, and the marker is ejected from the distal opening.